My past life

I used to sing in the Sydney Opera House.


How glamourous does that sound?  Well, not sure if glamourous is the word, but it sure was fun!  And exhausting.  And quite tedious, at times.  I miss it.

It took me around the other side of the world - you should totally click here.

The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs - that was the choral group I was with for past five years.  And, among other things, we would accompany the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the Opera House.  No, wait. THEY accompanied US.  Yes, that's right (although at times, it was much of a muchness.  All about territory, was it?).

We were volunteers.  No pay for us.  No monetary compensation.  We rehearsed every week for 3 hours, in the dark corner of the minimal-public-transportation section of the CBD; sang copious amount of music in many many languages, not always knowing what we were singing about; and endured language coaches who couldn't understand why we couldn't understand the difference between their pronounciation and ours.

Our chorusmaster was a top guy, who knows his stuff.  Brett (aka Bretty, to some fortunate people).

Brett recently remarked about some of the difficulties for us when singing in the Opera House.  Read them:  http://blogs.limelightmagazine.com.au/2011/04/08/working-with-choirs-is-like-no-other-job.  It's true.  As a high soprano, I was always placed on the end of the row, stage left, usually in the front.  I could always hear fellow sops (key women in the organisation, of course) belting it out with me .. only to hear the male half of the choir several seconds later, delayed by the reverb.  Always delayed.  Sometimes, disappeared.

Well.  That was Sydney.  Now I reside in Adelaide.  No Opera House here.  Not much at all, really.  Definately no dark corner of the CBD for me to wander though, no aussie and irish pubs filled with tourists with a not-so-flash man singing loudly with his guitar for entertainment (thank you George Street, with all your taxis and police cars every night, your plethera of boomerang, opal, and Ken Duncan-tshirt shops), no chic apartments on the water, with that random little glass gym underneath, next to couples sitting in dim lit restarants, ordering expensive little food on massive plates. 

Instead, I auditioned and now sing with the Adelaide Philharmonia Choir.  A smaller and more relaxed choir.  We sang last weekend with the Ino Choir from Japan.  They flew all the way over for the one concert.  It was beautiful, funny, and quite teary by the end.  Occasionally we sing evensong at St Peter's Cathedral.  Hollar if you're interested in listening.